1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector for electrically connecting a card having a memory and a circuit board and, especially, to a card connector for a card comprising a write protection button for selecting write permit or write inhibit to the memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is a recent trend that an electrical device, such as a portable telephone, is used together with a card having a built-in memory. As shown in FIG. 7, a card 1 is usually provided with a slidable write protection button 4 in a hollow formed in a side surface 2 thereof. Write permit or write inhibit to the built-in memory is selected by sliding the write protection button 4.
A conventional card connector for such a card as having the write protection button is described in Japanese Kokai No. 2001-135383. The conventional card connector in FIGS. 8-11 is provided with a first switch 8 arranged in a front wall 6 and a second switch 9 arranged in a side wall 7.
The first switch 8 is formed by a first contact spring member 10 provided in the front wall 6 and made flexible in the back-and-forth direction, and a second contact spring member 11 provided along the side wall 7 and made flexible in a lateral direction. Insertion or removal of the card is detected by the state of contact or separation between the first and second contact spring members 10 and 11. The first contact member 10 is folded in the middle and comprises a front end portion 12, an abutting portion 13, and a contact portion 14. The front end portion 12 is bent so as to be connected to a circuit board (not shown). Both the abutting and contact portions 13 and 14 are provided at the other end opposed to the front end portion 12. The second contact member 11 comprises a front end portion 15 provided in parallel to the front end portion 12, a retaining portion 16 fixed to the side wall 7, a cantilever spring portion 17 extending forwardly from the retaining portion 16 and having a contact projection 18, and a cantilever spring member 19 extending rearwardly from the retaining portion 16 and having an abutting portion 20. The abutting portion 20 comprises a curved section 21 projecting into the inside of the card connector and a flat section 22 extending from the curved section 21.
The second switch 9 is formed by the second contact spring member 11 and a third contact spring member 23 provided outside and along the second contact spring member 11 and made flexible in a lateral direction. A sliding position of the write protection button 4 is detected by the contact and the separation between the second and third contact spring members 11 and 23. The third contact spring piece 23 comprises a front end portion 24 provided in parallel to the front end portions 12 and 15, a retaining portion 25 fixed to the side wall 7, a cantilever spring portion 26 extending rearwardly from the retaining portion 25 and having an abutting portion 27. The abutting portion 27 comprises a curved section 28 projecting into the inside of the card connector and a flat section 29 extending from the curved section 28. The cantilever spring piece 26 comprises an opening 30 at a position corresponding to the flat section 22 of the second contact spring member 11 and a contact projection 31 in front of the opening 30.
As shown in FIG. 10, when the card 1 is inserted into the housing 5 with the write protection button 4 at the back position (write permit position), the abutting portion 13 of the first contact spring member 10 is pushed by the front surface of the card 1 and the contact portion 14 is brought into contact with the contact projection 18 of the second contact spring member 11. As a result, the first switch 8 is turned on and the insertion of the card 1 is detected. At this point, the curved section 21 of the second contact spring member 11 abuts against the hollow 3 of the card 1 and the curved section 28 of the third contact spring member 23 abuts against the write protection button 4. Accordingly, the second and third contact spring members 11 and 23 are separated from each other. As a result, the second switch is turned off, and the write permit to the card 1 is detected.
As shown in FIG. 11, when the card 1 is inserted into the housing 5 with the write protection button 4 at the forward position (write inhibit position), the contact portion 14 of the first contact spring member 10 is brought into contact with the contact projection 18 of the second contact spring member 11. As a result, the first switch 8 is turned on and the insertion of the card 1 is detected. At this time, the curved section 21 of the second contact spring member 11 abuts against the write protection button 4 and the curved section 28 of the third contact spring member 23 abuts against the hollow 3 of the card 1. Also, the flat section 22 of the second contact spring member 11 is inserted into the opening 30 of the third contact spring member 23. Accordingly, the second and third contact spring members 11 and 23 contact with each other through the contact projection 31. As a result, the second switch 9 is turned on, and the write inhibit to the card 1 is detected.
However, in such a conventional card connector, the second and third contact spring members 11 and 23 are fixed to the side wall 7 of the housing such that they form cantilevers to be flexible in the lateral direction and are not used as a part of the side wall 7 in view of the structure strength. A wall is necessary to be present at positions corresponding to those of the second and third contact spring members 11 and 23 as well as at the other positions. As a result, the side wall 7 becomes thick and it is difficult to minimize the size of the card connector.
In addition, since the members to form the switches 8 and 9 are provided in both the front and side walls 6 and 7, the manufacturing process is complicated and requires a large amount of time.
Moreover, since the first, second, and third contact spring members 10, 11 and 23 have different and complicated shapes, it is difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a card connector, which enables to minimize the size of the connector and reduce the manufacturing cost.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a card connector for electrically connecting a card and a circuit board comprises a housing for accommodating the card, a metal plate forming a part of a wall of the housing, and at least one metal piece provided along the metal plate such that the metal piece is anle to contact with and separate from the metal plate to form at least one switch.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the card comprises a slidable write protection button in a side surface thereof, the metal plate comprises first and second spring members made flexible in a lateral direction, and the at least one metal piece is composed of a first metal piece having a first contact portion which is contactable with and separatable from the first spring member to form a first switch for detecting insertion or removal of the card, and a second metal piece having a second contact portion which is contactable with and separatable from the second spring member to form a second switch for detecting a sliding position of the write protection button.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, the card comprises a slidable write protection button, the at least one metal piece is composed of a first metal piece having a first spring member made flexible in a lateral direction and a second metal piece having a second spring member made flexible in a lateral direction, and the metal plate comprises a first contact portion and a second contact portion, the first contact portion is contactable with and separatable from the first spring member to form a first switch for detecting insertion or removal of the card, and the second contact portion is contactable with and separatable from the second spring member to form a second switch for detecting a sliding position of the write protection button
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the first and second metal pieces have the same shape.
According to the present invention, the metal plate functions as a wall of the housing so that no wall is necessary at the position of the metal plate, thus reducing the thickness of the wall, thus minimizing the card connector.